All the ways to Remember

There are so many ways to help your guests remember to "Save-the-Date" of your wedding. From classic stationary to engagement photos, it can be wonderful to keep with tradition; however, adding some creativity can truly play a part in showcasing the couple's personality. Here are my top five favourite ways to help guests save-the-date!

A Love Story Flowchart

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A Folded Heart Reminder

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Photobooth Fun

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Pop-up Couple

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A Timeline of Love

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What are some of the best save-the-dates you've seen?

Loreal Get Noticed

Hello lovely wedding-lovers!

My younger sister, Bethany, has entered Loreal's Get Noticed contest and she needs your help!

To vote:
1. Follow this link: Get Noticed
2. Click the heart!

Bethany entered a little later than she wanted to, so needs votes quickly!

Plus, today is her 19th birthday and by voting, you'd really make her birthday wish come true!

Here is the photo you're looking for:

And I mean, come on, look at the beautiful job she did with the makeup! She should totally win! :D

The Little Ones

The bride and groom aren't always the center of attention on the day of their wedding; sometimes the kids steal the show. To help the little ones feel included during the wedding festivities, be sure to take some flower girl- and ring barer-specific photos. Here are my top five favourite kid-shots!

1) Flower Girl in the Bride's Dress

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2) Ring Barer Dancing with the Bride

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3) Flower Girl Gazing at the Bride's Gown

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4) Ring Barer as the Leader of the Cool Guys

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5) Little Girls Hiding Under the Bridal Gown

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Sometimes the littlest ones make for the sweetest of photos!

Friendly Inspiration: Caitlin

Week Four: Caitlin

Our Relationship: I met Caitlin in Mrs. Matthew's Grade 3 class & we've been best friends ever since!

Her Major: Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Her School: University of Arizona

Her Interests: Dance (she wishes she still did it)

Top Left: Grade 8; Top Right: Grade 10; Bottom Left: First year of college;
Bottom Right: Going into our third year of college

Caitlin's Questionnaire:

Colours: red, black, white, silver

Feeling: vintage, cozy

Season: summer

Dress: simple, maybe lace or little sparkles

Location: outdoor ceremony, indoor reception

Caitlin's Dream Wedding:

The Colours: Caitlin's colour scheme inspired me to create an old Hollywood feel to the wedding.

The Invitations: These black on black wedding invitations are elegant with an added vintage touch.

The Bride's Attire: Caitlin was hesitant about a lot of sparkle or beadwork, but when she saw this Lazaro gown, she fell in love!

The Bride's Accessories: To give her look a vintage feel, I found these pearl and diamond accessories to pair with her dress.

The Bride's Beauty: For Caitlin's hair, we chose effortless waves, partially pinned back, which work perfectly with the cut of her dress. For her makeup, we had to include the hollywood glamour of the red lip and dramatic eyes, along with the classic look of a french manicure.

The Bridesmaid's Attire: To match the cut of Caitlin's dress, these bridesmaids dresses were chosen. To incorporate the red into the bridesmaids' look, these beautiful red pumps were chosen (and the crystal heel is such a bonus!).

The Groom & Groomsmen: All black suits (including the dress shirt) are effortlessly glamourous, and paired with red ties (so the groomsmen match the bridesmaids) and a silver tie (so the groom matches his bride), the look is perfect!

The Flowers: I absolutely love the bouquet that Caitlin chose! It's so luscious and adds so much colour to the bridal party and groomsmen's looks! (Now don't quote me on this, but I believe these are garden roses.)

The Ceremony: I lived in Yorba Linda for three years (and still visit every year), and never knew that the Richard Nixon Library hosted weddings - and beautiful ones at that! The backdrop to the ceremony is the gorgeous First Lady's Rose Garden, which creates the perfect space to get married.

The Ceremony Decor: The arch featured below stood out to me for two reasons: first, because of the gorgeous chandelier, and second for the natural feel of it. Rather than the vines that cover it here, I would use twinkle lights. Lining the aisle, I would hang florals (most likely Ranunculus) and on every other, hang vintage tea-light holders with crystals. Ideally, I would like to hold to ceremony at dusk so that the lights and candles can be visible to the guests.

The Reception: The Richard Nixon Library offers a grand ballroom filled with gorgeous chandeliers and an elegant atmosphere. The feeling of the room is completely in keeping with the feel that Caitlin wants for her wedding.

The Reception Decor: I decided on two looks for the tables, each of which are described below!

When I saw this table, I knew that I wanted to recreate the look of these
plates!

I couldn't find what I was looking for online, so I made a quick sketch of
what I was thinking of with the plates. On the silver tables, I would start
with a square black plate, a red napkin on top, and then layer it with a
silver plate. For the black tables, I would do the opposite colours for
the plates.

On each table, I would include all of the above.

Black Table: black, pleated tablecloth & silver Chiavari chairs
Centerpiece: vase filled with diamond vase filler; crystal hangars around
vase; red calla lilies & red orchids in vases; red orchid & rose petals
around the centerpieces, along with crystal holders for tea-light candles 

Silver Table: silver, pleated tablecloth & black Chiavari chairs
Centerpieces: mirrors to base the vases; vases filled with diamond vase
filler; crystal hangars around vase (like in bottom left photo); white
ostrich feathers in vases; red orchid & rose petals around
centerpieces, along with crystal holders for tea-light candles

The Escort Cards: This elegant way to display the escort cards, along with the beautiful calligraphy used, was exactly what this wedding called for!

The Cake: This cake was practically made for this wedding with its vintage black lace and red roses. 

The Favours: This black, white, and silver candy buffet is a great way to allow the guests to create their own favours, getting exactly what they want! (Slight edit: I would want to add some red candy to the mix.)

Next week, stop by to see a bright and happy spring wedding for my roomie, Clara!

Sources:
Colours: The Perfect Palette
Invitations: Paper Ink Love
Bride's Attire: JLM Couture
Bride's Accessories: Something Jeweled, Bride Shop, Lolam Bridal
Bride's Beauty: Brown Eyes Blue Skies, Bridal Expo, Daily Makeover, Style Bistro
Bridesmaids: Bloomingdales, Dessy
Groomsmen: The Tie Bar
Flowers: Style Me Pretty
Ceremony: Wedding Wire
Ceremony Decor: Mariage-Original.com, Wedding Chicks, Fifty Flowers, Blank Canvas
Reception: Wedding Wire
Reception Decor: Joann's Fabric, Save-on-Crafts, Stuart Rental
Black Table: Pacific Callas, FTD, Chiavari Chair Rentals, Stuart Rental, Amazon
Silver Table: Tradesy, My Dream Fiesta, Save-on-Crafts, Chiavari Chair Rentals, Amazon, Stuart Rental
Escort Cards: Martha Stewart Weddings
Cake: Cake Coquette
Favours: Hostess with the Mostess

Friendly Inspiration: Jamie

Week Three: Jamie

Our Relationship: I met Jamie my freshman year of high school

Her Major: Communications: Interpersonal with a minor in Spanish 

Her School: Wheaton College

Her Interests: swimming, going to the beach, all things California (especially since she goes to school in chilly Illinois)

Jamie's Questionnaire:

Colours: definitely love blues - I'm really into mint and aqua right now

Feeling: more warm/cozy, simple yet fun

Season: summer for sure!

Dress: lace, I like sweetheart necklines, or off the shoulder sleeves

Location: outdoor reception and ceremony, would love it to be by some sort of water or trees

Special Requests: I LOVE fun lighting

Jamie's Dream Wedding:

The Colours: The colours that Jamie loves inspired me to create a colour palette in ocean hues, from mint to aqua to blue. To add another colour to the palette, Jamie and I decided on light pink.

The Invitations: To introduce one of the wedding colours for the first time, this aqua invitation was sent to the guests. It is simple, yet has a fun design!

The Bride's Attire: This Angelina Faccenda by Mori Lee dress encompassed everything that Jamie wanted in a dress. The floral lace detail was a beautiful bonus!

The Bride's Beauty: Jamie has naturally wavy hair, so with this look from Jessica Alba, we're able to enhance her waves and make them oh-so glamourous! For her makeup, we went for amped-up natural, with va-va-voom lashes, a pretty pink pout, and rosy cheeks.

The Bridesmaids Attire: To match the neckline and lace-fabric of the bride's dress, this mint dress from Mod Cloth was the perfect choice!

The Groom & Groomsmen: Since Jamie is having a summer wedding, we thought that the men shouldn't have to wear a jacket - except for the groom (we want him to stand out!). To coordinate with the light grey suits and mint bridal party, we chose these perfect ties. For the groom, a speckled mint tie, and for the groomsmen, a patterned mint tie to give them some extra flash.

The Flowers: Jamie absolutely loves daisies, so to go with the light pink accent colour, these unique silk flowers are a perfect addition to the bridal party. The groom and groomsmen will also have boutonnieres inspired by the bouquets.

The Ceremony: Pebble Beach Resorts offers so many great spaces to hold outdoor weddings! With the breathtaking view of the ocean, Jamie can get married by the water without having to deal with the mess of sand!

The Ceremony Decor: To bring the beachy-feel into the ceremony, I chose to decorate in three different ways. The first is with the alter, in which I found an arch that is covered in flowy fabric all in the bride's colour scheme. To line the aisles, I chose to bring in the daisies by hanging them in mason jars. To make it unique, I created an ombre effect of ocean hues leading into the pink of the accent colour. By finding the corresponding coloured mason jars (great DIY project!), I then filled them with matching sand (great way to bring in the beach-feel) that the flowers would then be placed in. To give the aisle some warmth, candles will be lit inside lanterns.

The Reception: Pebble beach can be quite cold at night, but this great venue lets you escape the elements, while still enjoying the ocean-view. (If the weather is on our side, I would choose to have the reception in a clear-tent outside.) This room offers high ceilings and windows-galore, giving the feel of outdoor bliss, while staying warm indoors.

The Reception Decor: To bring in Jamie's love of fun lighting, I decided to hang lighted lanterns in her colour scheme, covering the ceiling, along with stringing twinkle lights throughout the space. For the tables, large rectangular vases will be filled with aqua and mint-coloured glass to create the effect of the ocean, with colourful daisies standing out of them. Other tables will have the lanterns from the ceremony as their centerpiece, filled with matching daisies.

The Escort Cards: To bring the beach-feel indoors, the escort cards are situated in sand (I would include the coloured sand from the ceremony) with a "message in bottle" sharing their names and table number.

The Cake: To bring the ombre effect from the ceremony into the reception, this ombre-ruffle cake was chosen. The cake begins with the same colours as the ceremony aisle, working its way to the pink top layer. The ruffles create a wave-like image, perfect for a reception over the ocean!

The Favours: Unique favours were chosen for Jamie's guests - coasters! Guests will have their choice of coasters, choosing what best fits their personalities.

The Extras: To send Jamie and her groom off at the end of the night, I chose to use biodegradable lanterns that the guests can send off into the sky, making a wish for the newlyweds as the embark on their lives together.

Next week, tune in to find out how I create a vintage-inspired wedding for my best friend, Caitlin!

xo

Sources:
Colours: Design Seeds
Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas
Bridal Gown: Mori Lee
Bridal Hair: Style Bistro
Bridal Makeup: Style Bistro
Bridesmaids Dress: Mod Cloth
Groom/Groomsmen Attire: Zazzle, Middleton Park
Flowers: The Knot, Amazon
Ceremony Location: Stacey Pentland Photography, Pebble Beach Resorts
Ceremony Decor: Fifty Flowers, Save On Crafts, A Champagne Wish
Reception Location: Stacey Pentland Photography, Pebble Beach Resorts
Reception Decor: Style Me Pretty, Save On Crafts
Escort Cards: Martha Stewart Weddings
Cake: Style Me Pretty
Favours: Top Weddings, Little Things Favors
Send-off: Velvet Palette